XngHan is nervously fiddling with small rubber bands.
The singer and former member of Ok-pop boy group RIIZE arranges the ripped-up items of 1 right into a smiley face: two straight eyes, a nostril and dopey grin. Then, giving it an elastic halo, he factors out the show to his supervisor like a child in search of approval from a dad or mum, laughing, earlier than snapping again into enterprise mode. For the higher a part of the previous hour, the crew has been sleepily standing by in an L.A. dance studio whereas college students within the adjoining house choose up the choreography from his lately launched solo debut, “Waste No Time” — an expertise he’s going to cap by making a shock cameo.
This U.S. journey, which consists of three “fan signal” occasions in New York, Dallas and Los Angeles, is about as far out of the soft-spoken 21-year-old’s consolation zone because it will get. After chatting one-on-one and signing albums throughout the meet-ups, he fashions for “picture time,” the place followers seated contained in the lodge ballroom yell out a string of hand-heart and cat-ear pose requests. (“It’s a reasonably awkward time for him, nevertheless it’s fairly entertaining for us,” considered one of his reps quips.) But the general tone is considered one of celebration, the lightness of popping out the opposite finish of one thing.
“Seeing them in particular person is what made me completely happy,” XngHan (born Hong Seunghan) tells Billboard a few days later in early September. “I’m actually shy, so I’d at all times [thought I] most popular speaking to our followers on-line.” Again dwelling, he’s used to enjoying the shrinking violet, he explains, “However right here, I seen our followers had been even shyer than me. It actually appeared like they wished to say one thing, however they had been so nervous that they weren’t in a position to say what they wished to say.”
For good motive, feelings ran excessive. When XngHan was placed on indefinite hiatus in 2o23, together with his future as a Ok-pop idol principally changing into a large query mark, followers within the West had been significantly vocal supporters for his reinstatement, remaining relentlessly by his facet. Even now, across the nook from the fan signal, the pink wall of SM Leisure’s outdated Koreatown workplace has been plastered with uplifting messages directed at XngHan. (By the top of the month, a rainbow of sticky notes additionally went up close to the corporate’s most important HQ in Seoul; he left a person reply to each one.)
“I obtained plenty of vitality from the followers,” he displays on the journey’s final day. “They had been very honest, so I assumed that I’d need to meet them once more quickly.” Beneath, the singer recounts highlights from the milestone fan signal tour he’d wish to “go away a report of” and shares unique polaroids. Watch extra moments right here.
Picture Credit score: SM Leisure Whereas the singer is now a soloist, he performs collectively as a part of XngHan and Xoul with dancers Jang Yul and Gu Kyohong. They might not have accompanied him to the U.S., however the trio had an opportunity to journey collectively to SM City Reside in Tokyo earlier this yr. His favourite a part of hitting the street with them? “They eat very well,” he laughs. Within the pair’s absence, XngHan has been doing the identical, sampling the same old suspects in every metropolis: In-N-Out, southern barbecue, pizza (pictured above). When in a brand new location, “I normally like difficult myself to eat the meals which are there,” he says, although he regrets not making it to BCD, a Korean tofu home in L.A. that serves spicy soup.
Picture Credit score: SM Leisure Travelling with a small crew this go-around, XngHan obtained to be extra spontaneous. In New York, he went with the stream, sipping whisky in a West Village jazz bar and snapping pictures of pop artwork on the Whitney. “However I’ve to say that it was the time I spent in L.A. that actually left an influence on me,” he says. “Not solely attending to see how individuals fashion themselves, but additionally getting a glimpse of life by means of their eyes. That free-spirited angle.” These vibes weren’t solely restricted to the individuals he met. “There was a bunny in Dallas, simply doing its personal factor,” he recollects. “The tiniest, cutest bunny, nevertheless it seemed so free, ? Simply munching on grass and hopping round.”
Picture Credit score: SM Leisure XngHan isn’t actually one for crying; whereas he’s watched The Pocket book at the very least 12 instances, he claims to finish every viewing with dry eyes. “I’m extra so the one who consoles others,” he explains, a disposition that got here in useful on the fan indicators. “There was somebody who instructed me that I had introduced her plenty of consolation when she was going by means of a troublesome time in her life,” the singer says. “It actually caught with me as a result of it was the primary time [a fan had cried] in-person.” As a result of his signature mirrors a four-leaf clover, he appears like he’s sending off every particular person with an excellent luck attraction of their very own: “In a means, it’s me saying, ‘Have a terrific day that makes you smile!’”
Picture Credit score: SM Leisure When XngHan turned a trainee at SM in seventh grade, “I assumed I used to be going to study all of the Ok-pop dances,” he says. “However as a substitute they taught me hip-hop choreography.” The dance novice began doing his personal “analysis” on YouTube, which introduced him to G-Dragon, the Tremendous Bowl 50 halftime present with Beyoncé and Bruno Mars, and dance movies from Ian Eastwood, who XngHan linked up with whereas in Los Angeles. Later that very same day, when he watched the category of dancers tackle his single’s choreography, “It gave me a way of euphoria,” he says. “I wished to seize all of it in that second, go away a report of it someplace to treasure and look again on.”
